L1: Introduction & Job Analysis Flashcards
What is an organization?
A collection of people working together in a division of labour to achieve a common purpose. It is a system of inputs (imported from outside environment), which results in outputs (exported as finished products). Social relationships are the bonds tying this together
What is applied psychology?
Branch of psychology applying psychological principles to practical problems in organizations
What is talent management?
Process by which organizations anticipate and meet the needs for talent in strategic jobs, it is part of the broader field of human resource management (management involving staffing, retention, development, adjustment and change)
What is personnel psychology?
Subfield of organizational psychology, concerned with individual differences in behaviour, job performance and methods of measuring and predicting these differences
Why are there work differences?
Due to differences in abilities and differences in motivation
What are the assumptions of the book?
- every person regardless of race, age, gender, disability, religion has a right to compete for a qualified job
- society can do a better job of making the wisest, most humane use of human resources
- people in the field of HR should be competent and well-informed
What is globalization?
- the ability of any individual or company to compete, connect, exchange or collaborate globally
- global labour markets are created by cheap labour, plentiful resources combined with easy travel and communication
What are the emerging trends due to globalization?
- Increasing workforce flux due to more automated workers and work flexible hours which increases complexity of management’s role
- More diversity and will have a global outlook, intuitive sence of corporate culture
- technical skills will be less defining, as working across cultures more important
How is technology impacting the workplace?
White and blue collar jobs are being wiped out permanently, corporate downsizing due to loss of psychological contract (expectations about mutual relationship), more uncertainty and change
What is ubiquitous computing?
Technology permeates everything, enabling new ways of connecting, people, computers and objects. workers can be bombarded with spam emails, can be attached by hackers. Principles include: the effects are creative destruction, can enable or constrain people at work and is changing the nature of competition, work and employment.
How are the role of managers and workers changing?
Managers used to rule by command from the top, used controls to ensure fragmented tasks could be coordinated into neat compartments (departments). Leadership is not about comfort with uncertainty, led to agile management (values and principles emphasizing interactions among members of teams working in short cycles under transparency)
What kind of leadership is best?
Used to autocrative, but not culturally diverse groups need transformational leadership, transforming followers to bring out creativity
What is important for gig-economy?
Workers operating outside confines of regular employment, like free agents, or e-lancers who work for themselves. Technology and creativity make this possible
How are demographics changing?
- More older people
- More Asians, African Americans
- More women
What are the implications of the talent gap?
- reduced supply of workers make finding and keeping employees a top priority
- managing a diverse workforce will be a challenge
What are the implications of generational differences?
- individual differences are bigger than generational differences
- employers should find qualified employees who fit the values and HR practices
- job security (retaining employment with the same organization) is less important than employment security (having skills that employers in the market will pay for)
In order for human resources to be competitive, what are the requirements needed?
- they add positive benefits to producing goods
- the skills of the workforce are distinct to competitors
- skills are not easily duplicated
What is utility theory?
It insists that costs and expected consequences of decisions should be taken into account, present ability and future potential are usually taken into account. The decision maker should state his objectives before making the decision. Can assign workers to different cases based on the conversion to utility units (these are open to criticism)
What is a system?
It is a collection of interrelated parts, unified by design and created to attain objectives, by being aware of the variables involved in managerial functions. Closed system approach is focusses on the internal operation of the organization (does not describe organizational reality)
What is the open-system approach?
It is in continual interaction with multiple, dynamic environments with a continuous import of inputs and a transformation into outputs for the environment.
How does systems theory provide a new perspective?
Everything is one big system with interconnected, interdependent subsystems. It is important for: scanning changes in the environment, bridging critical boundaries, developing strategic responses
How does the supply chain work?
- optimizes costs against price and time to achieve the expected quality and the risks associated with variations of this
- groups of individuals flow through phases of the staffing process, with each phase serving as a filter.
- potential labour pool is developed into an available labour pool (qualified candidates)
- staffing processes: building and planning (trends in external and internal labour markets), then screening (identifying the qualified) to selecting (rating those who remain) and offering/closing so presenting offers and getting candidates to accept
How can staff outcomes be optimized?
By enhancing recruitment so an organization is more attractive to top candidates, increasing quality of applicants applying. In addition, could enhance job offers
How is the employment process a network of sequential decisions?
Each decision discovers what should be done with individuals, which forms a large chain. The different recruitment, selection and training strategies are different for each job and highly interdependent
What is strategic workforce planning
It is the process of matching the individual and the job based on the specifics of the work, the skills needed and training required to perform the job. To decide on pay: skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions are used
What is strategic workforce planning?
Anticipates future staffing requirements, formulating plans to ensure qualified individuals are available to meet that. Includes: talent inventory that reflect knowledge, abilities and skills, develops forecasts of internal and external supply of talent, action plans need to achieve that, control and evaluation procedures needed to provide feedback
What is important to consider about recruitment?
The cost of recruitment (demanding requirements mean that there will be few qualified applicants) and the selection ratio (the number hired relative to the number that apply). This will determine the level of selection
What are the two strategies in screening?
- Erroneous acceptance who is passed on from a preceding phase but fails at the following phase
- Erroneous rejection is someone rejected at one phase but who can succeed at the following phase if allowed to continue. These are seen as less costly
How can training be used more effectively?
Payoffs will be significant when training techniques match individual and organizational needs, which is driven by competency models (a cluster of interrelated, knowledge, abilities, skills that are important for success). The best strategy is to choose the most qualified applicant than the minimal one with training.
What is the goal of performance management?
To focus on improving performance at the level of the individual or team everyday, which needs willingness to provide timely feedback about performance. Performance appraisals signal success based on merit
What is work analysis?
It refers to any systematic process for gathering, documenting and analyzing the following features: its content, worker attributes related to performance and the context in which work is performed
Element
The smallest unit into which work can be divided without analyzing
the separate motions, movements, and mental processes involved
Task
A distinct work activity carried out for a distinct purpose.
Duty
Includes a large segment of the work performed by an individual and may include any number of tasks
Position
Consists of one or more duties performed by a given individual in a given firm at a given time,
Job
group of positions that are similar in their significant duties, such as two or more mechanics–level two. A job, however, may involve only one position, depending
on the size of the organization
Job family
group of two or more jobs that either call for similar worker
characteristics or contain parallel work tasks as determined by job analysis
Occupation
group of similar jobs found in different organizations at different
times—for example, electricians and machinists. A vocation is similar to an occupation,
but the term vocation is more likely to be used by a worker than by an employer.
Career
Covers a sequence of positions, jobs, or occupations that one person engages in during his or her working life.
What are the main themes of work analysis?
Behaviours needed to perform work tasks, then developing hypotheses about the personal characteristics-> task and people requirements
Job description
Written statement of what a worker does, how they do it and why. Includes: job title, activities/procedures, working conditions, social environment, conditions of employment
What is the methodology for determining minimal qualifications?
Scales are used to describe how important certain tasks are to the job, which is added up. Then subject matter experts suggest the education, work experience needed for MQs, which forms profiles. Then another set of SMEs decide the: description of a barely acceptable employee, decide if the list if complete, rate the finalized profiles
What are the recommendations for practice?
- structured analysis of work that identifies critical tasks and knowledge
- distributing lists of tasks and KSAs
- MQs should be someone newly appointed to the work
- Instruct individuals to think of other potential MQs
- Straightforward targeted MQs
- SMEs should rate the list of MQs independently
- SMEs should link potential MQs back to KSAs or tasks
- group MQs with easier and more difficult statements
Interrater reliability
Refers to the degree to which different raters agree on the components of a target work role or job
Intrarater reliability
A measure of stability (repeated items and rate-rerate the same work at different times)
How is human judgement fallible?
Social sources- groups rather than individuals make judgements about the work (self-presentation)
Cognitive sources- limited ability to process information
What is important about direct observation?
- assumes that jobs are static over time
- should be representative
- analyst must be unobtrusive in observations (can also use high-resolution digital cameras)
- observation is not viable for jobs that require lots of mental activity and concentration
Functional job analysis
This records what the worker does and the results of the worker’s behaviour. Address, what, why how and whether it is prescribed. Also describes the worker functions
How can the interview be used?
- should be viewed as conversation with a purpose
- should follow a structured interview
-no leading questions, not loaded, no personal info, clear, related to analysis - distortion of information is common due to honest misunderstanding or falsification
- several people should be interviewed
What are the purposes of SMEs?
- to develop information on tasks or KSAOs in work analysis questionnaires
- test development to link tasks between KSAOs
- should be representative
Issues with questionnaires?
Time-consuming, expensive to develop, misunderstandings are common, can be difficult to follow-up, rapport is impossible to achieve.
Task inventories and checklists
Questionnaires that collect info about a type of work, by rating tasks and rating each item with which task is performed. Also to assess the relative importance of each task
Position analysis questionnaire
It is based on analyses of worker-oriented job elements, including information input, mental processes, work output, relationships with others and work context. Overall high reliability and has potential to establish common factors for jobs. Limitations: no specific work activities, rather behavioural similarities and issues with readability (at least college level)
Fleishman Job Analysis Survey
This describes work in terms of the abilities needed to perform it. This includes: cognitive abilities, psychomotor abilities, sensory/perceptual abilities, social/interpersonal abilities, and general occupational knowledge and skill requirements. These scales define each ability and distinguish it from related abilities. Has good construct and predictive validity
Critical incidents approach
Involves a collection of a series of anecdotes of work behaviour that describe good performance (both static and dynamic0. The anecdote describes what led to the incident, what the individual did, the consequences and whether the consequences were within the employee’s control. Incidents are then categorized according to job dimensions
Job analysis wizard
- different elements organized into work and worker-related dimensions
- fuzzy logic for new dimensions (compares ratings to new knowledge based on patterns of data)
- automation of work analysis process
- filter data
- graphic reports of data interpretation
What is the role of personality dimensions into job analysis?
- positive relationship between personality and work performance, like conscientiousness is a valid predictor
Strategic work analysis
Micro view of jobs and work like psychologists, training specialists and with a macro perspective like sociologists, management consultants. Reframing needed to define current or future work.
Competency models
Identify variables related to organizational fit and identify personality characteristics consistent with the organization’s vision. They focus on broader characteristics to inform HR practices
How do competency models differ from job analysis?
Effort is needed to understand context, competitive strategy and broader goals of an organization, but job analyses do not make this connection
How can the work of star performers be analyzed?
- by conducting a task analysis and comparing the differences in how they do the task
- partner psychologists with SMEs to understand the factors contributing to high performance
What is cognitive task analysis?
This focusses on cognitive skills or mental demands to perform a task proficiently. Involves: selection of participants, illustration of knowledge and analysis of that. Usually applied using structured interviews and think-aloud protocols
What principles is ONET based on?
- Multiple descriptor domains providing multiple windows into the world of work (like KSAOs, tasks, context)
- Common language of work/workers
- Descriptions of occupations based on taxonomy from broad to specific (hierarchical taxonomies)
- Comprehensive content combining the above 3
What is the validity of a test?
Not a characteristic but inferences made from text or assessment information. An inference is valid if supported by sound evidence, the use of the test is what is being tested
Psychological constructs
Labels for clusters of covarying behaviours. These are heuristic devices for describing behavioural domains. These test whether certain behaviour covary and whether the clusters of covarying behaviours covary in meaningful ways (construct validation and theory development imply same basic process)
What is human resources?
the set of interrelated processes designed to attract, develop, & maintain human resources
What is the role of HR personnel?
- assessing the adequacy of selection procedures or creating new procedures
- screening prospective employees
- performance measures (performance management system)
- training
What is the role of a manager?
- hiring new employees (picking the best ones, costs of selection procedures, which procedure is most appropriate)
- assessing the performance of subordinates
What is the role of consultant?
- advise organizations about their selection procedures, performance measures and training
What is personnel selection?
They look at individual differences in behaviour, job performance and methods for measuring and predicting these differences
What is an ideal situation?
Assessing each individual’s aptitudes, abilities, personality and interests, profile these and place individuals in jobs perfectly suited to them and society to best use individual talents
What are teams?
Identifiable social systems whose members have the authority to manage their own task and
interpersonal processes as they carry out their work
What is a construct domain?
The aim is to explain general regularities in human behaviour which is understood by researchers with theoretical frameworks like extraversion
What is a performance domain?
Aim is to translate broad organizational goals into statements of valued behaviour and outcomes. This is influenced by decision makers and selection specialists. For example negotiating
Predictor
Measure of construct
Criterion
Measure of performance
What is the essence of validity?
This is what a test/procedure actually measures, how well it measures that and how well it predicts performance. It is the degree to which evidence supports the inferences/expectations made from scores or outcomes of the test
Validation
The process of gathering evidence or evaluating the necessary data
Job analysis
Defining each job in terms of behaviours necessary to perform the job and develop hypotheses about personal characteristics needed to perform it. First you carry out a job description then the job specifications
What is job analysis important for?
Job descriptions and specifications Personnel selection
Performance appraisal
Training & development
Job description
specify the work to be done. i.e. tasks, duties & responsibilities of a job. Includes which behaviours need to be performed
Job specification
which psychological constructs underlie performance? i.e. personal characteristics necessary to do
the work. Includes the knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics of the person who is to perform the job
Skills
Practiced acts. They can increase over time to the limits of one’s natural ability, intelligence, or personality.
Ability
The limit in the capacity to change, such as cognitive ability
How is a job specification established?
Represents KSAOS needed to perform a job, and the minimal requirements/ qualifications.
1. subject matter experts develop a list of tasks and KSAS
2. then they judge the necessity of tasks and KSAS
3. then they judge the clarity and adequacy of this level, so it becomes finalized
Why is job analysis important?
It affects all other aspects of personnel selection. The job needs to be defined first before finding a person to match that job. A thorough job analysis reflects deeper understanding of jobs and their behavioural requirements. This provides a basis for employment decisions
What are some important considerations for the job analyst?
- Activities (work-oriented, description) vs attributes (worker-oriented, specification) or both
- General vs specific level of detail (flexibility)
- Qualitative (narrative, career planning) vs quantitative (fixed scales for time, frequency which allows for cross-job comparisons)
- Taxonomy-based vs blank slate
- Observers (job analyst) vs incumbents (people on the job)
- KSAs vs KSAOS (considering other personal characteristics or not
- Single job vs multiple-job comparisons
- Descriptive vs prescriptive (is it a strategic job analysis or a new job)
What does validity mean for job descriptions and job specifications?
Job descriptions: how accurate is the representation of job content, environment and conditions
Job specifications: do people with the personal characteristics needed perform more effectively on the job
What are the factors influence accuracy of job information?
- group decision-making biases such as groupthink
- self-presentation bias can result in exaggerations and omissions in ability statements
- cognitive biases which can limit ability to process info
- is a subjective process so important to make careful choices about what information to collect and how
Why can it be difficult to take into account all job information?
The length of the job cycle can exceed the observation period, no access to job sites for observation, no familiarity with job tasks, duties, there can be changes in the job. The job analysis is only as good as the information collected. Better to use a combination of methods for greater confidence in results
Explain the method of direct observation
The job analyst observes representative samples of work behaviour, should be unobtrusive, using functional job analysis is useful to record observed tasks and what gets done
Evaluation of direct observation?
- assumes that jobs are static
- good for manual, standardized short-cycle jobs
- not the best for jobs needing mental work and concentration, but an observation could be used for some aspects and other methods for other aspects
Evaluation of job analyst performing the work?
Appropriate for jobs that the analyst can easily learn but less useful for complex jobs needing expert knowledge and skills
How can interviews be used for job analysis?
The worker acts as their own observer and reports this. Usually the interview is structured as the questions are pre-decided: should be related to the purpose, no personal materials, only ask about knowledge that the interviewees know, clear wording, no leading questions. Run multiple interviews with workers and supervisors.
Evaluation of interviews?
Positives: worker knows the job, along with hidden and long-term aspects
Negatives: success is dependent on interviewer skill, depends on trust and covering the whole content domain and interviewee honesty (info distortion)
How can SME panels be used for job analysis?
Groups of 6-10 subject matter experts should be used. Need to be representative of race, gender, position and experience. Should discuss issues and resolve disagreements openly about KSAOs and what distinguishes good workers from poor workers. Should identify effective and ineffective behaviours
What are critical incidents?
Used to describe good/ poor performance, and can be categorized according to job dimensions to cover whole behavioural domain. Helps with performance management. Supervisors usually record CIs for employees as they occur
Evaluation of critical incidents?
Positives: absolutely job related, forces attention to situational & personal determinants & uniqueness of job, ideal for feedback, development, measure
development
Negatives: time-consuming & burdensome, qualitative, difficult to compare employees
How can questionnaires be used for job analysis?
Usually standardized and require respondents to either check items that apply to a job or to rate items in terms of their relevance for the job
Evaluation of questionnaires
Positives: Cheaper and quicker to administer than other job analysis
methods. It provides
information quickly from a lot of participants, structured data
collection allows quantification & statistical analyses.
Negatives: Time consuming to develop, ambiguities or misunderstandings might be missed (vs. interview), more difficult to follow-up, impersonal
What is the position analysis questionnaire (PAQ)?
194 items are divided into: info input (where and how workers get needed info), mental processes (reasoning, planning and decision-making needed), work output (physical activities, tools and devices used), relationships with others, job context (physical and social context of work).
Evaluation of PAQ
Positives:High reliabilities, sample independent.
Negatives: General work activities can result in unusual similarities (masks task differences), difficult for job descriptions, readability (requirescollege-graduate reading level)
What is the Fleishman Job Analysis Survey?
Provides a taxonomy of 52 abilities: cognitive, psychomotor, physical, sensory/perceptual, 21 social skills and 33 occupational knowledge and skills. It is one of the best researched job analysis measures, describes work in abilities required to perform it. Has good reliability and validity. Works by defining the ability and distinguishing from other abilities. Then given a scale with examples of tasks needing different levels of the ability
Why is incorporating personality important?
- good for cross-functional jobs, difficult to define jobs and new jobs
- personality related position requirement form indicates which of the big 5 is needed for a job
NEO Job Profiler
Allows you to rate 6 subdimensions of Big-5 dimensions on relevance and desirability
How is the contemporary workplace changing?
Traditional jobs: mass-production, long product cycles, less competition, standardization of jobs
Changes are: jobs are less stable due to work practices and technologies, job boundaries are becoming blurred, more flexibility, cross-functionally competent employee, workers are adaptable, flexible and multi-tasking
How does this changing nature impact KSAOs?
Task coordination, participation, conflict resolution, problem-solving and communication are more important to cope with counterproductive work behaviour.
What is strategic job analysis?
This is used if the job does not exist yet. Becomes established through repeated discussions between SMEs from different parties involved in change. Uses statistics by using knowledge of tasks and KSAs
What is competency modelling?
A worker-oriented job analysis that focuses on broad characteristics needed for the job: KSAOs (e.g. innovation, flexibility). Reflects business context and strategy, more future-oriented and prescriptive. This can heighten the Person- Organization fit. But: no consistent definition, ill-defined concept and does not have as much rigour as job analysis
What is work analysis for star performers?
Begin with groups of better and poorer performers on the job and systematically explore differences in what they do, how they do it, and what personal qualities distinguish the two groups
What is cognitive task analysis?
Focuses on cognitive skills needed to perform the task well by systematically comparing problem solving skills of experts compared to novices. Good for knowledge based work and when work needs effective performance under pressure. But labour-intensive, time-consuming and expensive to develop.
